Three factory workers died after taking iftar at Kaliakair Upazila of Gazipur district on Sunday evening. The details of the deceased couldn’t be identified immediately. Angry workers of the factory blocked the Chandra-Nabinagar highway by burning tires hearing the incident. Kaliakair Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Tajwar Akram Sakapi said that on three workers of a factory located in Chandra area of Kaliakair Upazila got ill after taking iftar and were taken to the near hospital quickly where the doctors declared the three dead. But the doctors could not identify the exact cause of their death.

The government is keen to introduce a national social insurance scheme in Bangladesh in phases with an aim to enhance social safety of the factory workers and common people, according to an official document.Officials with knowledge of the process say a study has already been conducted on this prospective scheme, initiated by the Cabinet Division, by laying emphasis on the gradual introduction of four types of social insurance services in the country. It envisages unemployment insurance, maternity insurance, sickness insurance and employment injury Insurance, which is focused on the country’s factory workers, according to a document obtained by UNB. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has already taken steps to launch a pilot of the employment injury scheme to protect factory workers from injuries. Read more: Proposed budget’s social safety allocation not enough, speakers say at CPD dialogueOfficials involved with the process say that ensuring workers’ safety in line with the global standard is crucial as human rights organisations and workers’ rights groups are more vocal than ever about workplace safety and workers’ rights at home and abroad. Global brands, especially in the garment sector, are concerned about compliance when it comes to workers’ welfare.

River vessels will be allowed to operate from Saturday evening to Sunday 12 pm to carry factory workers, said the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) on Saturday. To carry the workers of RMG and export-oriented factories, the government has allowed the vessel movement, said a media release issued by the BIWTA in the evening. The BIWTA requested vessel owners, masters, drivers, staff and passengers to follow health guidelines during the period. Read: No decision yet on lockdown extension: Farhad Although public transport movement remained suspended, thousands of people started returning to Dhaka on the 9th day of the lockdown on Saturday following the government’s announcement that mills and factories will reopen on Sunday (Aug 1). Shimulia ferry terminal in Munshiganj saw a huge crowd as people from south western districts who were coming back to the capital to join their work. The vessel movement was suspended from July 23, 6 am as the government reimposed a countrywide ‘stricter’ lockdown till August 5, midnight as per a Cabinet Division’s order. Read: Covid kills 218 more in Bangladesh as its catastrophe continues Ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the BIWTA, however, allowed vessels to carry passengers at half of their capacities on condition of maintaining health guidelines from July 14 midnight to 6am on July 23. A record rise in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown suspending all outdoor activities unless there is any emergency.

Bangladesh, the second-largest garment exporter after China, has a long history of industrial disasters and abuses, including factory fires with workers trapped behind locked exits. Lax enforcement of safety standards and unsafe working conditions in its factories makes fires a tragedy of the commons here, largely in the apparel sector which accounts for about 80% of the country's exports. Industrial safety in Bangladesh has repeatedly come under intense scrutiny following each disaster. Although public outcry followed each trauma and tragedy, working conditions in garment factories have remained largely unchanged. Weeping family members of missing workers waiting anxiously to learn the fate of their loved ones has become a regular sight. The authorities promised better safety standards after the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, which killed more than 1,100 workers and injured hundreds in 2013 in Bangladesh's apparel industry's biggest disaster. Also read: Trapped in a building with no fire exit and gates locked, workers were burned to a pulp The collapse led to better labour conditions and tougher safety rules. But many local industries failed to maintain safety compliance, leading to accidents each year.

Workers at the Adamjee Export Processing Zone and Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) industrial area of Fatullah are at greater risk of coronavirus infection, health experts say.